Motivation and Emotion

Motivation Concepts and Theories Motivation—factors within and outside an organism that cause it to behave a certain way at a certain time Need: Internal deficiency; causes Drive: Energized motivational state (e.g., hunger, thirst); activates a… Response: Action or series of actions designed to attain a… Goal: Target of motivated behavior

Theories of Motivation Instinct—motives are innate Drive—biological needs as motivation Incentive—extrinsic things push or pull behavior Arousal—people are motivated to maintain optimum level of arousal Humanistic—hierarchy of needs

Drives as States of the Brain The hub of many central drive systems lies in the hypothalamus.

Hunger Drive Other stimuli that act on the brain to increase or decrease hunger include: satiety signals from the stomach (CCK) signals indicating the amount of food molecules in the blood (insulin) leptin, a hormone indicating the amount of fat in the body internals vs. externals

Human Sexual Drive Stage 1: Excitement—beginning of sexual arousal Stage 2: Plateau—increased physical arousal Stage 3: Orgasm—male ejaculates, female vaginal contractions Stage 4: Resolution—arousal subsides

Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors Reported differences between males and females in these areas have become less pronounced since the 1960s. Recent meta-analyses indicate that men tend to have more sexual partners, experience first intercourse at an earlier age, and masturbate more frequently than women.

Sexuality in Adulthood Majority of adults (80%) report having none or one sexual partner in the past year (marriage factor). Majority of men ages have sex about seven times per month. Majority of women ages have sex about six times per month. Vaginal intercourse is nearly universal as the most widely practiced sexual activity among heterosexual couples. 50 percent of older Americans reported sexual activity at least once per month.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) STD—any of several infectious diseases transmitted through sexual intercourse or other sexual contact Of the 12 million cases of STDs diagnosed annually in the US, about 8 million are among people under 25 years of age Many STDs have mild or no symptoms, yet left untreated can cause serious health problems

Humanistic Theories Abraham Maslow suggested that motives are divided into several levels from basic survival needs to psychological and self- fulfillment needs.

Arousal Theory People are motivated to maintain an optimum level of arousal—neither too high nor too low Curiosity motive—helps us understand our environment

Sensation Seeking A person high in sensation seeking tends to look for exciting (and sometimes risky) activities.

Concept of Emotion A class of subjective feelings elicited by stimuli that have high significance to an individual stimuli that produce high arousal generally produce strong feelings are rapid and automatic emerged through natural selection to benefit survival and reproduction

Basic Emotions Fear, surprise, anger, disgust, happiness, sadness Basic emotions are innate and “hard- wired” Complex emotions are a blend of many aspects of emotions Classified along two dimensions Pleasant or unpleasant Level of activation or arousal associated with the emotion

Physical Arousal and Emotions Sympathetic nervous system is aroused with emotions (fight-or-flight response) Different emotions stimulate different responses Fear—decrease in skin temperature (cold-feet) Anger—increase in skin temperature (hot under the collar)

Brain and Emotions Amygdala evaluate the significance of stimuli and generate emotional responses generate hormonal secretions and autonomic reactions that accompany strong emotions damage causes “psychic blindness” and the inability to recognize fear in facial expressions and voice

Emotion and Facial Expressions Each basic emotion is associated with a unique facial expression. Facial expressions are innate and “hard- wired”. Innate facial expressions the same across many cultures. Display rules—social and cultural rules that regulate emotional expression, especially facial expressions.

Theories of Emotion Common sense might suggest that the perception of a stimulus elicits emotion which then causes bodily arousal Perception (Interpretation of stimulus— danger) Stimulus (Tiger) Emotion (Fear) Bodily arousal (Pounding heart) Common-Sense Theory

James-Lange Theory

Two-Factor Theory

Cognitive-Mediational Theory Emotions result from the cognitive appraisal of a situation’s effect on personal well-being. Similar to two-factor, but cognitive mediational theory’s emphasis is on the cognitive appraisal as the essential trigger for the emotional response